Events

Continuity across transitions in care: What do older adults tell us?

There can be large gaps in care for older adults and their family caregivers during transitions from hospital to home or primary care. Transitioning from one care setting to another is where breakdowns in continuity of care is most apparent, leading to stress and poor outcomes for patients.

On November 28th, CHÉOS co-hosted a seminar where attendees heared from two experts in the field about gathering and utilizing this type of information. Isobel Mackenzie,BC’s Seniors Advocate, and Chris Graham,the CEO of the Picker Institute Europe, presented about what they have learned from older adults. The seminar was hosted by Rick Sawatzky, Canada Research Chair in Person-Centred Outcomes, and Lena Cuthbertson, Provincial Executive Director, Office of Patient-Centred Measurement & Improvement / BC Ministry of Health.

The event was organized as part of a national collaboration (funded by CIHR) on “A Meta-Narrative Review of Patient- and Family-Reported Experience and Outcome Measures Across Transitions of Care for Frail Seniors Living at Home” led by Dr. Sawatzky, Lena Cuthbertson, and Dr. Kara Schick-Makaroff.

In this session, attendees learned about the art and science of obtaining and using information collected directly from patients and their family caregivers aimed at improving the continuity and quality of care for older adults during these transitions.

The slides for the presentations can be accessed here (Chris Graham) and here (Isobel Mackenzie). Information about the B.C. Seniors in Residential Care Survey, a project led by the B.C. Office of the Seniors Advocate, can be found here.